Snyder has taken on a project to purchase books and other materials and make improvements to the existing library at the Bopaganang Primary School in Driahok. The objective of the project is to make the library more learner-focused, with more hands-on activities that will enhance the students' English comprehension skills. Driessen's students will participate in the project along with the rest of the students at Shields by raising money every time they read a book between Nov. 14 and Dec. 15. Shields Principal Shelley Hueber recently sent Snyder's letter home with the students to explain how the children can help. Hueber said she loves the idea of children helping other children. “I'd like to help her raise as much money as possible,” Hueber said. “What she's doing is phenomenal.” The students will obtain pledges from family members and friends for contributions to the Bopaganang school library. They will pledge to give a set amount for every minute the student spends reading during the time period. Driessen said she and her niece's mother, Marianne Synder, had talked about how to get the Shields students involved in Mandy's project. They decided that there is no better way to give students 8,000 miles away the gift of reading than through the students' reading books themselves.
Mandy Snyder, a volunteer with the Peace Corps in Driahok, Botswana, found that many of the children in the rural community where she is serving can not speak, write or understand English which is a major challenge, because all of the educational materials there, as well as standardized exams from second grade on, are in English
Shields students give gift of reading to African students
by Susan O'Neill
Kaneland John Shields Elementary School teacher Kathleen Driessen's third-grade students were surprised to learn that there were fifth-graders in the southern African nation of Botswana who had never heard of dinosaurs.
Driessen's niece, Mandy Snyder, a volunteer with the Peace Corps in Driahok, Botswana, found that many of the children in the rural community where she is serving can not speak, write or understand English. Driessen said that is a major challenge, because all of the educational materials there, as well as standardized exams from second grade on, are in English.
If the students do not pass the exam after the sixth grade, they are not allowed to continue their education, Driessen said.
Snyder has taken on a project to purchase books and other materials and make improvements to the existing library at the Bopaganang Primary School in Driahok. The objective of the project is to make the library more learner-focused, with more hands-on activities that will enhance the students' English comprehension skills.
Driessen's students will participate in the project along with the rest of the students at Shields by raising money every time they read a book between Nov. 14 and Dec. 15.
Shields Principal Shelley Hueber recently sent Snyder's letter home with the students to explain how the children can help. Hueber said she loves the idea of children helping other children.
“I'd like to help her raise as much money as possible,” Hueber said. “What she's doing is phenomenal.”
The students will obtain pledges from family members and friends for contributions to the Bopaganang school library. They will pledge to give a set amount for every minute the student spends reading during the time period.
Driessen said she and her niece's mother, Marianne Synder, had talked about how to get the Shields students involved in Mandy's project. They decided that there is no better way to give students 8,000 miles away the gift of reading than through the students' reading books themselves.
Currently, the library at the Bopaganang School has less than five titles per student for the entire kindergarten-through-sixth-grade school. Driessen explained that equals half the amount of books in her own students' third-grade classroom library.
“That was an eye-opener for me,” she said.
Marianne said that when Mandy first took a tour of the school in Dirahok, she asked where the library was. She said that it was dark and dusty, and was not even being used.
Since then, she has initiated several programs to encourage the use of the library, including an hour during which she reads to 25 children a time. She also holds a movie day at the library, where children learn more about the English language from the conversations in the movie. She has begun to tutor them and is working to get them more excited about reading.
During a celebration of National Library Day in Botswana, Mandy was asked to address the villagers, along with the chief. About 50 parents came to see what Mandy was doing with the library.
Other neighboring schools have also heard about the Bopaganang library and want to know more about it.
“I believe she is making a huge difference for these kids,” Marianne said.
Marianne said Mandy's Botswanan “mother” has given her the Botswanan name Mtho.
“It means ‘gift,’” she said.
Mandy has obtained a grant through the Peace Corps in which the money she raises will go to buy books and other materials, chairs, tables, shelves and paint to make the library a more welcoming place for the children.
Driessen said her students are excited about participating in the project.
“Your parents can donate a nickel for each minute you read,” her third-grade student Tommy Kumar said.
Kumar said he had seen pictures of the village where Mandy is staying and of the school's library.
“They don't have very many books,” he said. “It's pretty small.”
Kumar's classmate Kamryn Buza said the class learned about Botswana as part of their social studies class. She and some of the other students are going to write to the Botswanan children.
“I'll ask them what they eat, what they wear and what they learn in school,” she said.
For more information about the project, you may e-mail Marianne Snyder at dm_snyder@sbcglobal.net.
